Several devices have been patented which are aimed at basketball amusement game apparatuses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,147, by Ethier et al., entitled "BASKETBALL GAME ADJUSTMENT APPARATUS" discloses an arcade basketball game with a pair of inclined playing surfaces joined together in a peak with a transparent vertical barrier on top, allowing the ball to roll to the lowest point where a striker bar impedes its travel. A hand-held striker hits the ball upward at an angle toward the opposite player's hoop in an attempt to score a goal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,071, by Solomon, entitled "GAME APPARATUS" discloses a game apparatus having a substantially rectangular base. A vertical plate is suspended over an end of the base by a support and has a hoop. A catapult is pivotally mounted to the opposite end of the base and has a receptacle for holding a ball which can be projected toward the hoop.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,898, by Hochberg et al., entitled "GAME APPARATUS" discloses a game apparatus having a projectile propeller mounted on a forward end portion of a housing. A target is provided which is mounted to translate forwardly and rearwardly with respect to the projectile propeller adjacent a rearward end of the housing. The projectile propeller is operable to propel a game projectile toward the target.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,834, by Minami, entitled "TOY HAVING MOMENTUM IMPARTING SURFACE" discloses a toy having a surface wherein a portion thereof is movable with respect to the remainder of the surface. A target is mounted on a pedestal above the surface and a self-propelled object.
Other games in the field are U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,152, by Karlsen, entitled "GAME" and U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,378, by Bahr, entitled "TARGET AND AIR ACTUATED PROJECTORS" are related to basketball game apparatuses but do not meet the needs of the present invention.
While each of the basketball amusement game apparatuses functions as desired, none of them allow two motorized basketball player figurines to move about one end of a basketball court wherein one basketball player figurine serves as a defensive player and the other basketball player figurine serves as an offensive player. Thereby, the two basketball player figurines play one-on-one basketball. The addition of a defensive basketball player figurine serves to enhance the competitiveness of the one-on-one basketball game apparatus.